America: My Time

Chapter 618 Planning for the Stock Market Crash
Chapter 608 Laying the Groundwork for the Stock Market Crash
The situation in Hollywood has not eased; in fact, it has begun to escalate. This is partly due to the instigation of certain individuals, but no matter how much the Writers Guild fights, it's to no avail. The seven major Hollywood studios have all stated that they will not accept their demands. Under these circumstances, the pressure on the Writers Guild is increasing, making the situation more and more dangerous. Perhaps this is the impact of Legendary Entertainment and Phoenix Media. Their ruthless methods and merciless handling have made the Writers Guild uneasy, because they know that if things continue like this, they will soon be in trouble. Therefore, their reaction has become increasingly intense.

At this point, John, as a Hollywood mogul, was most worried about Disney and Columbia Pictures. If those two bastards couldn't hold on first, the situation would change. Moreover, Donald had now turned his attention to Japan, and the pressure on Disney and Columbia Pictures was constantly increasing.

The more critical the situation, the calmer he needs to be. He can't rush to deal with a minor disturbance in the US. Since the enemy has made another move, he'll wait for them to jump out one by one. No matter how many schemes those guys have, they're no match for absolute power. John's huge investments in the US have already gained public approval. No matter how many ideas they have, it's useless. As for business competition, John is never afraid.

Before he knew it, he had been in China for more than a month. During this time, although John did not participate in the negotiations, it was not easy for him. After all, he was the big boss. With the vigorous development of major companies in China, John gradually had an idea, which was to divest some of his assets in China.

Although the idea is there, putting it into practice will not be easy. It requires more preparation and more talent. After all, continued expansion will gradually affect the core of the group, making a split the best option. The semiconductor sector, in particular, needs to be established as early as possible, but it still requires time.

Just as John was heading to Hong Kong to make further preparations for the potential stock market crashes in Japan and Taiwan, the late 9s being a period of financial turmoil, both Taiwan and Japan faced significant challenges. John needed to sell some of his Taiwanese stocks in advance to avoid losses from the capital gains tax in September. John had substantial investments in both Taiwan and Japan, as such opportunities don't come around often!
This is also a crucial moment for Standard Chartered Bank to take another step forward. Only by continuously learning from the stock market crash and strengthening itself can Standard Chartered Bank continue to grow and expand, complete its financial layout, and become an important pillar of the conglomerate. John is well aware that without a strong bank as support, the power of a conglomerate will be limited. There are many problems in the US that could hinder development, but overseas, there are fewer such limitations. Standard Chartered Bank is currently one of John's most valued assets.

When John arrived in Hong Kong and saw the city as it was today, he sighed. The situation in Hong Kong was becoming increasingly chaotic, with all sorts of things happening one after another, and the security problem was extremely serious.

John's arrival in Hong Kong quickly became known to the Hong Kong tycoons. They were well aware of the Mandarin Oriental Group's sale of its Japanese assets and its aggressive investments in China. The Mandarin Oriental Group still exerted immense pressure on them, even though it had abandoned its expansion in Hong Kong. The group still controlled a considerable amount of land, and even knowing it was a multinational corporation, they remained uneasy. Many were aware of the situation in Japan—the mining giants' coordinated crackdown on the country. This inevitably worried some Hong Kong tycoons whether the Mandarin Oriental Group would retaliate against them, given its sheer size.

John had no idea what those people were thinking, nor did he want to, because there was no need. He wouldn't change his decisions and plans based on their opinions. His plans for Hong Kong were already complete, and there was no need to invest more energy in them. On the contrary, he needed to prepare for the stock market crashes in Japan and Taiwan.

"Tianfan, clear out all your Taiwanese stocks by the end of August. We need to temporarily stop investing. The Taiwanese stock market is too crazy, it's a bit abnormal. If this continues, it could easily attract official intervention. Standard Chartered Bank can't afford too much loss right now!"

“Okay, Taiwan’s stock market is indeed too crazy right now, second only to Japan’s stock market, which is worrying.” Yuan Tianfan also knew about the stock markets in Taiwan and Japan, because their recovery was too fast, to an unbelievable degree, which far exceeded the economic recovery of most countries in the world.

Although Standard Chartered Bank profited greatly from the previous stock market crash, the more one understands how terrible the impact of the crash was, the more one realizes how serious and terrible the current situation is in Taiwan and Japan.

"Boss, do we need to make some adjustments to our operations in Japan?" Yuan Tianfan was also a little worried about Japan's economy. It was growing faster than a rocket. Moreover, when the Mandarin Oriental Group sold its real estate in Japan, he also felt a sense of danger. It seemed that the boss was trying to withdraw from Japan.

"No rush. We're not in a hurry to stop our operations in Japan, and most of our holdings are in yen, so the yen won't depreciate in the short term. I'm more worried about Taiwan; stock prices are fluctuating daily, so it's best to be cautious. Let's sell all our stocks first and see the official reaction before making a decision! As for ourselves, we need to hold a certain amount of US dollars and also increase our yen holdings. The yen is currently appreciating steadily." The yen's appreciation means it won't be significantly affected even during a stock market crash, so increasing yen holdings won't be a problem. We can simply convert it into US dollars after the crash, since the yen is currently very attractive.

After making arrangements for the layout in Hong Kong and Taiwan, John talked about the current situation in Hong Kong. Security is of utmost importance. Although a lot of security personnel had already been added in Hong Kong, the situation still seems very serious.

"Tianfan, security is no small matter. You must be vigilant. The British are becoming increasingly complacent, making the situation in Hong Kong more and more chaotic. We can't risk our lives. Both you and your family must be on guard and not give the enemy any opportunity. I will arrange more security personnel in a while. The bank absolutely cannot have any problems, and you yourself cannot have any problems either, otherwise it will definitely affect the development of Standard Chartered Bank. In the future, whether in Hong Kong or Europe, as long as Standard Chartered Bank completes its expansion, the funds of other groups will go through Standard Chartered Bank. This is also a way to control the flow of funds within the group! Gold prices will fall for a long time to come. We will no longer buy gold; cash is king."

Corporate finances are of paramount importance, and John was prepared to have a finance company overseeing things. However, having all the group's funds go through Standard Chartered Bank would make it easier to monitor the situation of each company and increase control over them. Therefore, John needs to have a serious talk with Yuan Tianfan about this issue; there can be no room for carelessness.

Now that Yuan Tianfan has taken over Standard Chartered Bank, he has gradually come to understand how strong his boss is. Standard Chartered has many industries throughout Asia, not to mention Europe. The fact that so many companies' funds go through Standard Chartered will greatly boost the bank itself, since the flow of funds from so many companies is a considerable amount.

Cash is king, which is another reason why John came to Hong Kong. Standard Chartered Bank will no longer purchase gold, but will instead prioritize cash and use US dollars and Japanese yen as reserves. The existing gold reserves are already sufficient, and there is no need to invest more funds. If there is demand, Quantum Mining has sufficient gold production capacity.

When the Hong Kong business tycoons learned that John had immediately communicated with Yuan Tianfan, they were alarmed, worried that there might be another problem with the stock market, after all, the stock market crash had just happened not long ago.

However, these bigwigs soon stopped worrying because Standard Chartered Bank was about to expand into China. This was a plan John had prepared long ago, not only to accelerate Standard Chartered Bank's development and its presence in China, but also to conceal Standard Chartered Bank's true intentions from others.

No one saw anything wrong with Standard Chartered Bank's move north, as everyone knew John had a very friendly relationship with China and had huge investments there. Standard Chartered's move north was perfectly normal. Using Standard Chartered's move as a reason, no one doubted John's meeting with Yuan Tianfan, no one suspected John's secret arrangements in Taiwan and Japan, and no one foresaw the impending stock market crash in Japan and Taiwan.

Many people only see the soaring stock markets and economic development in Taiwan and Japan, but they fail to notice the terrifying bubble behind it. Japan's economy is relatively stable, being the world's second largest, but Taiwan's economy is not as strong as Japan's, yet its stock market is growing rapidly, which is highly abnormal.

As Standard Chartered's expansion plans into mainland China became more widely known, HSBC breathed a sigh of relief. HSBC is now under considerable pressure. Although it holds a significant advantage in Hong Kong, its overall advantage is not substantial, especially given its repeated failures and substantial losses. Standard Chartered, on the other hand, has benefited greatly. With this back-and-forth, it is difficult for HSBC to maintain sufficient pressure on Standard Chartered. Therefore, Standard Chartered is HSBC's biggest concern.

(End of this chapter)